Cloth guiding device



y 1939-v v c G. RICHARDSON 2,157,920

CLOTH GUIDING DEVICE original Filed Sept. 14, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l i 1 v f V 1 J3 I May 9, 19-39. c." G. RICHARDSON 5 CLOTH GUIDING DEVICE Original Filed Sept. 14, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 '4 I so f, 8 36 I I I P P-rig i,

3' as 38 i i so r 38 a? 3 a M I Patented May 9, 1939 UNlTED STATES.

orice 2.157.920 CLOTH ems DEVIGE Application September 14, 1933, Serial No. 689,384

Renewed September 23, 1938 8 Claims.

This invention relates to cloth finishing machines and is intended to provide a simple and emcient means for guiding the cloth as it travels into and through the machine so that the edge of the cloth maintains a substantially constant line of travel as it approaches the cloth finishing devices such as selvage loop cutters, edge trimmers or otherwise instead of swerving in and out as heretofore when fed rapidly through a machine of this type. a

Broadly speaking, this maintenance of the travel of the cloth edge in a substantially straight line is effected by means of a cloth engaging and guiding element or frame that is movable to and fro to counteract the svierving tendency of the cloth approaching the cloth finishing devices so that as the edge of the cloth passes such devices it will maintain a practically constant relation to said devices and thus avoid damage to the 010th.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated two different forms of construction embodying the principles of this invention in which Fig. 3 is a sectional view on plane 3-3 of Fig. 1

showing the apparatus as viewed from the outside of the edge of the cloth. L,

Fig. 4 is a detailed view showing an'elevation from the inside of the feeler mechanism and the 5 rotary ratchet shafts through which to. and fro movement is imparted to the guide frame as required. Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a-modified form of construction in which the cloth guiding element 0 or frame is pivoted to move to and fro about a vertical axis under the control of feeler controlled actuating mechanism. Fig. 6 is a front' elevation of the construction shown in Fi 5. Fig. 7 is a side elevation on the sectional plane line, 1-1 of Fig. 5 illustrating the travel of the cloth through the guiding element by the feeler into the finishing machine. 5

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the double 50 toothed pawl showing the reversely inclined teeth for engaging the oppositely pitched r .tchet threads-to traverse the pawl in-or out, respectively.

The device illustrated in the drawings is shown 55 in the form of an attachment that can be mount- (Ci. ail-2.6)

ed at the front of a cloth finishing machine to control the guiding of the cloth as it passes rearwardly to be operated upon by the edge trimming, loop cutting or other finishing devices.

The cloth guiding member as shown in Figs. '5 1, 2 and 3 consists of a truck or carriage mounted to travel on tracks 24. transversely of the direction of the travel of the cloth. The carriage or truck comprises end frames I in which are mounted a forward'cloth engaging and support- 1o ing bar 3, a rear supporting and engaging bar 6 at about the same level and an intermediate lower bar 5. The .end frames are provided with flanged wheel trucks 2 adapted to travel in and out or transversely of the cloth on the tracks. 15 On'the frameA of the machine is mounted a horizontal bracket or strut l carrying upright ends 6 which are provided with bearings for an upper rotary shaft in and an underneath or lower rotary shaft 1 I, said shafts being provided 29 with helical threads intermediate their hearing ends and being operatively connected by intermeshing pinions 9 to rotate in opposite directions at uniform rates of speed. The rotation is eifected by a pulley l2' secured to the projecting outer end of one of said shafts and the shafts are mounted in parallelism with and closeu to the adjacent side of the movable guide element.

Since the clothhas gone rapidly through the v staggered tension and guide bars 3, 4 and 5 and 30 is supported by said guide bars obviously the inward and outward movements of the carriage will tend" to carry the cloth with it. This tendency is utilized by providing a feeler controlled mechanism, the feelers of which are arranged close to the normal edge line of the cloth so that any tendency of the cloth to swerve inward will result in an outward movement of the guide element which serves to counteract the inward swerving tendency and thus maintain the line of travel of the ejdg eof the cloth substantially constant.

' I will now describe the mechanism by which this counteracting movement of the cloth guide is effected by means of the cloth itself.

Between the two oppositely rotating ratchet shafts Ill and ii is mounted a pivotal dog I! whose inner end overbalances the outer end so that when unrestrained-by the feeler mechanism the inner end tends to drop about the horizontal pivot post l6a and allow. the upper tooth l'la oi the dog to engage the under side of the upper ratchet shaft. There is also a downwardlyprojecting lip or tooth "b on the outer end of the ratchet dog that drops into engagement with the lower ratchet shaft II when the outer end of the dog is depressed.

In Fig. 2 and in Fig. 3 the dog or pawl 11,

'is shown in neutral position with its ratchet teeth out of engagement with both the upper and the lower ratchet shafts.

The position of the toothed dogl'l is determined or controlled by the position of the feelers with the axes of the ratchet shafts and is sup-' ported by upward extensions 311 of a sliding bracket [3, which is supported by a horizontal bar l2 mounted in the stationary or fixed end bracket 6 that also supports the rotary ratchet shafts as best shown in Fig. 3. A clamping screw l4 serves to firmly hold the bracket I3, |3a in properly adjusted position to position the feelers in proper relation to the edge line of the cloth.

As shown in Fig. 3 the bracket I30. is provided with a laterally projecting stop pin l3b which limits the rearward movement of the feeler dogs 20, 2|. Between the inner feeler 20 and the outer feeler 2| is a plate 22'which is secured to the outer feeler 2| and which is provided with an inwardly ofiset extension 22a whose outer rearwardly turned end 220. is mounted on the feeler supporting shaft 23 and this extension arm 22a. overhangs a pin 110 that projects from the forward face of the outer'end of the pawl IT. This pawl actuating arm 22a when rocked downward (Fig. 3) will depress the outer end of the ratchet dog H to engage the lower ratchet shaft II. It will be understood that the outer feeler 2| and its attached plate 22 are provided with an inwardly projecting pin 21a passing through an ",arcuate slot 20a formedin the inner feeler 20.

The feeler devices are positioned so that the inner feeler 20 is beneath the extreme edge portion of the traveling cloth by which it is engaged and moved back to the limit of its movement established by the stop pin" l3b.

The inner feeler when moved to its rearward position by contact with-the cloth acts through its slot and-pin connection to drag the outer feeler 2| to its middle position as shown in 'Fig. 3 so that the pawl actuating arm 22a through its engagement with the pin I'Ic keeps thepawl in neutral position. Should the cloth swerve inwardly out of engagement with the inner feeler 20 the feelers will be released and will tip forwardly under the influence of gravity. This forward tipping raises the arm 22a and allows the weighted inner end of the pawl ll to drop thereby causing engagement of the upper tooth Ila of the pawl with the upper ratchet l0. As} a result of this engagement the carriage instantly moves the cloth back to engagement with the inner feeler 20 and the pawl is restored to neutral position.

Should the cloth tend to swerve outwardly into engagement with the outer feeler 2|, such engagement drags the feeler 2| rearwardly to the limit of its rearward movement established by the stop pin l 3b thereby-depressing the outer end of the pawl H by means of the actuating arm 22a and the pin llc so that the lower tooth no will engage the lower ratchet H. This instantly shifts the carriage inwardly causing the cloth to lose contact with the outer feeler 2| and remain in contact only with the inner feeler at which position the pawl is in neutral. 'It will therefore be seen that just as soon as there is any tendency for the cloth to swerve inward or oitward beyond the line of the feeler, there is instantly set up a counteracting movement of the ratchet so that the travel of the edge of the cloth is maintained on a practically straight line, there being a sufiicient space between the movable guide and the line where the cloth enters the finishing machine so that the counteracting tendency of the guide fully offsets the initial swerving tendency of the cloth. It is therefore possible to pass the cloth into the finishing machine at a constant or fixed line defining its edge.

The form shown in Figs. 5-7 illustrates the action of a feeler controlled mechanism on a pivotally mounted oscillatory cloth guide. In this form the guide frame 30 has upright end members 30a which carry three staggered guide bars 3|, 22 and 33. At its middle portion the frame 30 is supported on a swivel post 34 mounted in bearings provided in a fixed support 35. On the pivot post 34 is secured an outwardly projecting arm 31 whose outer end is connected by a link 38 with one arm of a bell-crank lever 38a, whose other arm is slotted to engage a pin or roller 39 carried by a slide bar 40 which has sliding support in the end brackets 36a of a fixed frame 36.

A bracket 4| projects upward from the slide bar 40 and on this bracket is pivoted, about a horizontal axis parallel with the direction of travel of the cloth, a feelerdog 42 having at its middle an upstanding feeler finger 43 adapted to form a fiat face contact with the traveling edge of the cloth. Beneath this dog 42 is a rotary ratchet shaft 31 having reverse helical threads 31a intersecting each other, one of which, when engaged by one tooth of the dog, pushes the dog outward, the other pushing the dog inward when engaged by the opposite tooth of the dog. The inner end of the dog is weighted or overbalanced in order to cause the finger 43 to contact lightly with the edge of the cloth.

When the cloth edge is traveling along its normal line, the contact of the cloth against the finger keeps the pawl in neutral position. If the cloth moves slightly inward, the feeler follows it owing to the overbalancing gravity of the inner end of the pawl and the inner tooth engages the ratchet thread that pushes against its abrupt face to push the pawl outwardlyyuntil the pawl is restored to neutral. On the other hand any tendency to outward swerving of the cloth edge results in tipping the outer tooth of the pawl into engagement with the reverse thread of the ratchet which pushes the pawl inwardly to neutral.

Since the pawl is pivotally attached to the transverse slide bar, it will be apparent that the to and fro thrust of the pawl or dog 42 is transmitted to the slide bar 40 and thence through the link-connected arms 38a and 3'! to oscillate the frame as required to guide the cloth inward or outward in counteraction of the outward and inward movements of the cloth. Hence in both cases just as soon as the cloth starts to swerve in one direction such movement is corrected by means that are directly responsive to the movement of the cloth so that, from the automatic feeler controlled guide, the cloth edge travels to the finishing devices along a practically straightline.

While for the purpose of illustration I have shown rotary ratchet members associated with a feeler controlled pawl for shifting the guiding element to swerve-counteracting position, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular kind of guide actuating means for counteracting the swerving movements of the cloth through the medium of the initial lateral movements of the cloth edge.

What I, claim is:

1. A feeler mechanism for guiding a web of cloth against swerving and controlled by in and out movements of the cloth edge embracing a pawl/ a pair of side by side pivotal feeler dogs capable of independent movements supported to lie on opposite sides of the desired line of travel of theedg'e of the cloth, one of said dogs being provided with a pawl engaging finger for retaining said pawl in neutral position when said dog is not engaged by the cloth, and acting to release the pawl for movement from neutral when neither dog is engaged by the cloth, a pawl and ratchet mechanism, the pawl of which is controlled by thev feelers as aforesaid, and clotin guiding means shiftable by said ratchet and pawl to exercise guiding control over the cloth.-

2. In a device for guiding a travelling web of cloth against lateral swerving from its normal path, the combination of cloth supporting and guiding means movable to and fro, reversely acting continuously rotating threaded actuating means for moving the guiding means in opposite directions, a pawl associated with said cloth supporting and guiding means, means for pivotally supporting the pawl for movement in one direction into operative engagement with one of said actuating means and in the opposite direction'into operative engagement with the other of said operating means, means associated with the pawl for constantly urging the same into operative engagement with one of said actuating means and pivotal means for engaging and being actuated by engagement with the margin of the cloth and having direct engagement with said pawl for movement of said pawl into operative engagement with the other of said actuatingmeans.

3. In a device for guiding a travelling web of cloth against lateral swerving from its normal path, the combination of cloth supporting and guiding means movable to and fro, reversely acting continuously rotating threaded actuating means for moving the guiding means in opposite 7 directions, a pawl associated with said cloth supporting and guiding means, means for pivotally supporting the pawl for movement in one direction into operative engagement with-one of said actuating means and in the opposite direction into operative engagement with the other of said operating means, means associated with the ,pawl, for constantly urging the same into opera- .tive engagement with one of said actuating means and means associated with said pawl and engagebleb'y the margin of the cloth for movement of guiding means movable to and fro, reversely acting continuously rotating threaded actuating means for moving the guiding means in opposite directions, means associated with said cloth supporting and guiding means for alternate engage- :ment with either of said actuating means and including means for engaging and actuation by engagement with the margin of the cloth for movement of the associated means towards one of said actuating means, said associated means including means for constantly urging the associated means towards the other of said actuating means.-

5. In a device for guiding a travelling web of cloth against lateral swerving from its normal path, the combination of cloth supporting and guiding means movable to and fro, reversely acting continuously rotating threaded actuating means for moving the guiding means in opposite directions, a pawl associated with said cloth supporting and guiding means, means for pivotally supporting the pawl for movement in one direction into operative engagement with one of said actuating means and in the opposite direction into operative engagement with the other of said operating means, and means responsive to initial opposite swerving movements'of the cloth for effecting movements of the pawl for selective engagement with the respective reversely acting guide actuating means to move the guiding means in a direction appropriate to oppose the initial swerving movement of the cloth.

' 6. ma device for guiding a travelling web of cloth against lateral swerving from its normal path, the combination with cloth supporting and guiding means movable to and fro, of means responsive tothe in and out movement of the cloth edge and having an operative engagement with the guiding means for controlling the move ment of the guiding means to counteract the swerving movement of the cloth, said responsive means comprising reversely acting continuously rotating threaded means, means adapted to be brought into operative engagement with one of said reversely acting threaded means for movement of the guiding means in one direction and with the other of said reversely acting threaded means for movement in the opposite direction, and means for engaging and actuation by engagement with the margin of the cloth for-controlling the movements of said means for engag-. ing the reversely acting threaded means.

7. In a device for guiding a travelling web of cloth against lateral swerving from its normal path, the combination of cloth supporting and guiding means movable to and fro, a continuously rotating shaft having right and left hand threads cut thereon, a pivoted pawl operatively connected to the cloth supporting and guiding means for movement thereof, said pawl having teeth thereon, one of which is adapted to be brought into operative engagement with the left hand threads and the other tooth into operative engagement with the right hand threads, means for constantly urging the pawl in one direction to bring one of said teeth into operative engagement with its threads and means associated with said pawl for engaging and actuation by engagement with the margin of the cloth for movingsaid pawl in the opposite direction to bring the first tooth out of engagement with its threads and the other tooth into engagement with its threads. e i 8. In a cloth finishing machine having a clot guiding member which is mounted for to and fro movements to counteract swerving movements of the cloth, the combination of a dog associated .with the guiding member, said dog being pivoted between its ends for movementabout an axis adapted to engage the left hand threads for movement of the pawl and thereby the guiding means in one direction, said pawl having a tooth at its other end adapted to engage the right 5 hand threads for movement of the pawl and thereby the guiding means in the opposite direction, means associated with the pawl for moving the same in one of said directions and an upright finger associated with said pawl and engageable by'the extreme edge of the cloth pass: ing by for movement of the pawl in the opposite direction.

CHARLES G. RICHARDSON. 

